Tabor

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Easton's Bible Dictionary - Tabor

Tabor [N] [H] [S]

a height.

  • Now Jebel et-Tur, a cone-like prominent mountain, 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 1,843 feet high. The view from the summit of it is said to be singularly extensive and grand. This is alluded to in Psalms 89:12 ; Jeremiah 46:18 . It was here that Barak encamped before the battle with Sisera (q.v.) Judges 4:6-14 . There is an old tradition, which, however, is unfounded, that it was the scene of the transfiguration of our Lord. (See HERMON .) "The prominence and isolation of Tabor, standing, as it does, on the border-land between the northern and southern tribes, between the mountains and the central plain, made it a place of note in all ages, and evidently led the psalmist to associate it with Hermon, the one emblematic of the south, the other of the north." There are some who still hold that this was the scene of the transfiguration (q.v.).

  • A town of Zebulum ( 1 Chronicles 6:77 ).

  • The "plain of Tabor" ( 1 Samuel 10:3 ) should be, as in the Revised Version, "the oak of Tabor." This was probably the Allon-bachuth of Genesis 35:8 .

    These dictionary topics are from
    M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
    published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    [S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
    Bibliography Information

    Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Tabor". "Easton's Bible Dictionary". .

    • Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary - Tabor

    Tabor [N] [E] [S]

    choice; purity; bruising
    Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names. Public Domain. Copy freely.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
    Bibliography Information

    Hitchcock, Roswell D. "Entry for 'Tabor'". "An Interpreting Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names". . New York, N.Y., 1869.

    Smith's Bible Dictionary - Tabor

    Tabor [N] [E] [H]

    (a mound ), or Mount Tabor, one of the most interesting and remarkable of the single mountains in Palestine. It rises abruptly from the northeastern arm of the plain of Esdraelon, and stands entirely insulated, except on the west where a narrow ridge connects it with the hills of Nazareth. It presents to the eye, as seen from a distance, a beautiful appearance, being symmetrical in its proportions and rounded off like a hemisphere or the segment of a circle, yet varying somewhat as viewed from different directions. The body of the mountain consists of the peculiar limestone of the country. It is now called Jebel-et-Tur . It lies about six or eight miles almost due east from Nazareth. The ascent is usually made on the west side, near the little village of Deburieh --probably the ancient Daberath, ( Joshua 19:12 ) --though it can be made with entire ease in other places. It requires three quarters of an hour or an hour to reach the to the top. The top of Tabor consists of an irregular platform, embracing a circuit of half an hours walk, and commanding wide views of the subjacent plain from end to end. Tabor does not occur in the New Testament, but makes a prominent figure in the Old. The book of Joshua ( Joshua 19:22 ) mentions it as the boundary between Issachar and Zebulun, See ver. 12. Barak, at the command of Deborah, assembled his forces on Tabor, and descended thence, with "ten thousand men after him," into the plain, and conquered Sisera on the banks of the Kishon. ( Judges 4:6-15 ) The brothers of Gideon each of whom "resembled the children of a king," were murdered here by Zebah and Zalmunna. ( Judges 8:18 Judges 8:19 ) There are at present the ruins of a fortress round all the summit of Tabor. The Latin Christians have now an altar here at which their priests from Nazareth perform an annual mass. The Greeks also have a chapel, where, on certain festivals they assemble for the celebration of religious rites. The idea that our Saviour was transfigured on Tabor prevailed extensively among the early Christians, and still reappears often in popular religious works. It is impossible, however, to acquiesce in the correctness of this opinion. It can be proved from the Old Testament and from later history that a fortress or town existed on Tabor from very early times down to B.C. 53 or 50; and as Josephus says that he strengthened the fortifications there about A.D. 60, it is morally certain that Tabor must have been inhabited during the intervening Period that is in the days of Christ. Tabor, therefore, could not have been the Mount of Transfiguration [see HERMON]; for when it is said that Jesus took his disciples "up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them ( Matthew 17:1 Matthew 17:2 ) we must understand that he brought them to the summit of the mountain, where they were alone by themselves.

    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    Bibliography Information

    Smith, William, Dr. "Entry for 'Tabor'". "Smith's Bible Dictionary". . 1901.

    Smith's Bible Dictionary - Tabor

    Tabor [N] [E] [H]

    is mentioned in the lists of 1Chr 6 as a city of the Merarite Levites, in the tribe of Zebulun. ver. ( 1 Chronicles 6:77 ) The list of the towns of Zebulun. Josh 19 contains the name of Chisloth-tabor. ver. ( Joshua 19:12 ) It is, therefore, possible, either that Chisloth-tabor is abbreviated into Tabor by the chronicler, or that by the time these later lists were compiled the Merarites had established themselves on the sacred mountain, and that Tabor is Mount Tabor.

    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    Bibliography Information

    Smith, William, Dr. "Entry for 'Tabor'". "Smith's Bible Dictionary". . 1901.

    International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Tabor

    TABOR

    ta'-ber, tar'-bor (tabhor; Codex Vaticanus Thachcheia; Codex Alexandrinus Thabor):

    One of the towns in the territory of Zebulun, given to the Merarite Levites (1 Chronicles 6:77). The parallel list in Joshua 21:24 f contains no name like this. There is no indication of its position. Some have thought that it may correspond to Daberath in the territory of Issachar (21:28), now represented by Deburiyeh on the western slope of Mt. Tabor; others that it may be the mountain itself; and yet others that it may be a city on the mountain, which probably was occupied from very early times. There is a Tabor mentioned as on the border of Issachar (Joshua 19:22); but that is almost certainly the mountain. It has been suggested that Tabor in 1 Chronicles 6:17 may be a contraction of Chisloth-tabor (Joshua 19:12), the modern Iksal, 3 miles West of the mountain. No certainty is possible.

    W. Ewing

    Copyright Statement
    These files are public domain.

    Bibliography Information
    Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'TABOR'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.